Seraserapi. Spring
- 山本まりこ
- May 1
- 6 min read
■ Encounter with Serakogen Farm
What is your favorite location to shoot in Japan?
I've been asked this question countless times, and one place I can answer without hesitation is Serakogen Farm in Hiroshima Prefecture. Drawn by the magical charm of the fields of beautiful flowers blooming in every season - tulips in spring, sunflowers in summer, and dahlias in autumn - it's a place I love and find myself returning to before I know it. Since 2013, I've been there more than 10 times in total, as a photo tour instructor, for photography work, and for personal reasons.
The first time I visited was in autumn.
About 15 minutes by car from the town of Sera, which is a rice-producing area with many rice fields, the flower garden was located in a secluded, lush plateau. There, dahlias were in full bloom. As far as the eye could see, they were everywhere.
The dahlias were overflowing with a myriad of colors, including pink, deep pink, red, purple, vermilion, orange, white, yellow, and yellow-green, and ranged in size from tiny dahlias the size of a pickled plum to ones larger than a human face, swaying in the breeze and shining in the setting sun.
Fluffy
Swaying
and
There's a saying that goes, "It's like a dream," but it really was like a dream, and I was so engrossed in the dreamlike flower garden that I just kept clicking my shutter. I hadn't known much about it before, and I was shocked by the beauty that unfolded before my eyes, and I instantly became a fan of Sera Highlands Farm.
And from that first visit, dahlias became my favorite flower.
Having become a fan, I have since returned to Serakogen Farm many times. During my visits, I was able to take some photographs that I consider to be my masterpieces. It has now become such a beloved and important place for me.
One Spring
In the spring of 2022, I visited Serakogen Farm.
It was a beautiful, clear, blue day.
The wind is blowing
Flowers swaying
People smiling
In the early morning, you may come across flowers covered in morning dew.
In the evening, the flowers sparkle in the sunlight shining at an angle.
The flowers at Serakogen Farm are beautiful every second. If you look closely, you'll see the staff silently tending to them. The reason the flowers on the vast farm are so beautiful wherever you look is because of the staff's careful daily care.
Seiya Yoshimune, the representative of Serakogen Farm. He is always passionate about the future.
■About Serakogen Farm
Sera Kogen Farm is located about a 40-minute drive south of Hiroshima Airport and about a 40-minute drive north of JR Shin-Onomichi Station, where the Shinkansen stops. I often take the train from Kanagawa Prefecture to Haneda Airport and then drive from Hiroshima Airport to Sera Kogen Farm. I've gotten used to it, because every time I'm enjoying the view from the train window while taking photos, I realize, "Oh, we've already arrived!" Although it's far from the Kanto region, it's very convenient because it's easily accessible from airports and Shinkansen stations. I've held many photo seminars at Sera Kogen Farm, and people have come from all over the country, including Tohoku, Kanto, Tokai, Chubu, Kansai, Shikoku, San'in, and Kyushu, to take photos.
So far I have been writing about Sera Highlands Farm, which is a group of four flower tourist farms scattered throughout the Sera Highlands area: Sera Highlands Farm, Flower Village Hanayume no Sato, Sora no Hanabata Sera Highlands Flower Forest, and Serafuji Garden.
My favorite is the spring Fuji Festival at Serafuji Garden.
My favorite thing about this park is that it takes advantage of the elevation difference to enjoy the wisteria flowers from various angles, both above and below, and there are plenty of shady areas and places to rest.
Sitting in a chair under the wisteria trellis and watching the wisteria sway gently is a truly happy experience. As the wisteria sways gently, my heart also feels light and fluffy, and I find myself staring blankly, wishing I could stay like this forever. Sometimes I realize I've been gazing at the wisteria in the same place for an hour. Looking next to me, I see a couple sitting in a chair gazing at the wisteria flowers. Their children are hopping around, wanting to touch the wisteria on the trellis.
What a wonderful time
What a beautiful Japan
My favorite time is in the evening.
I continued taking pictures as if I had lost track of time.
I was taking photos alone at the time, but I imagined that in a few years, this place at this time will be filled with photography enthusiasts, and I took the photos with that in mind.
Sera's food
One of the joys of visiting Sera Highlands Farm is the food in Sera. Sera is full of delicious restaurants. One of them is Setsugetsufuuka Fukuchiin. This Japanese tea cafe is a renovated temple lodging built in the Edo period, located on the approach to Mount Koya, a historic site in Sera Town. They serve sweets and vegetarian cuisine made with local ingredients, including Hiroshima native tea.
This Sera rice pancake, presented beautifully on a tray, is made with rice flour grown in Sera. The batter, made with Sera rice flour and soy milk, is plump and chewy. Though small in size, it's very filling. Enjoy it slowly while gazing at the sparkling new greenery in the spacious garden. It's truly a blissful time.
■Seraserapie
Surrounded by beautiful flowers
Enjoy a delicious meal
Talk to kind people
A trip to Sera Highlands will have you smiling before you know it. It feels as though you are enveloped in a warmth of kindness, almost like you are receiving therapy. That's why I call the pleasant feeling of spending time in Sera "Seraserapi."
So, I've written about how we first met, but once again, congratulations to Serakogen Farm on its 45th anniversary. It's been about 10 years since I started going there. Even during my time there, Serakogen Farm has steadily grown in variety and variety of flowers. I wonder what the future holds for them? Will they show us a world of flowers never before seen in Japan? I can't wait.
This spring,
At Serakogen Farm, weeping cherry blossoms and rape blossoms spread across a 30,000m² hill, followed by 750,000 tulips of 200 varieties across a 65,000m² field.
Flower Village Hanayume no Sato is home to 450,000 moss pinks and 1 million nemophila flowers on a 40,000m² hill, one of the largest in western Japan.
Serafuji Garden has approximately 1,000 wisteria trees and 12,000 lupines, also known as ascending wisteria, spread across an area of 30,000 square meters.
At "Sora no Hanabata Serakogen Hana no Mori," an English rose garden has opened, with 7,200 rose bushes of 150 varieties and 2,000 perennial plants of 200 varieties.
A variety of flowers bloom and spread out.
Wow, it's amazing... Sera Highlands is home to such a huge flower garden that it's hard to know where to start looking.
Seraserapy
When should I visit next?
Maybe spring, maybe autumn.
Maybe tomorrow.
Mariko Yamamoto
Photographer and spice food writer. After graduating from the Department of Architecture in the Faculty of Science and Engineering, he got a job at an architectural firm. In the spring of his 25th year, he decided that "I still love photography," so he took his camera and set off on a wandering journey, and immediately became a photographer. He continues to take spatially conscious photographs based on the concept of "airy," which means well-ventilated. His activities are diverse, including photography, writing, lectures, and teaching. He has published 11 books, including the photo books "ARIY COLORS" and "Walking the Kumano Kodo," and the book "Airy Photo Recipes." He runs the photography and spice cooking class Room5656 and opened PEANUTSuu, a space for photography and spice curry. His favorite foods are curry and squid.
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